The Crunch Factor

I’ve always had trouble finding the right name for a book. Sometime last year, the name of this book walked right into my head. I knew I had to write a book for this title. But what would it be? And that’s where my idea of a food+romance novel grew. Here’s the synopsis.

Twenty-six-year-old Aliya loves almost everything to do with food – eating it, styling it, photographing it. But while her career as a food photographer seems to be on the right track, her personal life is entirely derailed. Determined to move out of her parents’ home, she agrees to marry Kamaal, the hot owner of the trendy new restaurant in town. But why does she feel like she’s waded into a bowl of bland khichri? Where’s the papad, dammit? Where’s the crunch factor?

In walks Sameer, an old crush from her younger days, now a chef. At Kamaal’s restaurant. Aliya cannot believe that, even a decade later, he’s still as hot as jalapeno poppers and as charming as cheesecake and that she’s just as attracted to him now as she ever was. So what is Aliya going to do? Will she go ahead with the wedding or will she take her flirtation with Sameer a step further, choosing rocky road pie over her Milky-Bar-like relationship with Kamaal?